The association Peupl’en Harmonie is looking for eight young people who will participate in a
Eight Guyanese aged 18 to 25 could take part in an exchange program between Guyana and Belgium. This is a project for the socio-professional and personal development of future candidates. The association Peupl’en Harmonie, at the initiative of the system, launched the selections. The wanted have until February 15, 2022 to register.
•
A new open door to discover the world. As part of an exchange program between Belgium and Guyana, the association Peupl’en Harmonie is looking for eight young people aged 18 to 25. The local organization launched a call for applications in December 2021. Since then, around twenty applications have been submitted.
Those selected will integrate a scheme largely financed by the Erasmus+ Youth and Sport agency. On the Belgian side, the project is supported by the organization JAVVA (Young Active in Volunteering and Alternative Travel). Eight young Belgians will be chosen by the partner association SolidarCity.
The exchange will be organized in two stages. First, the Belgian participants will visit Guyana from March 22 to 29, 2022. In particular, they will discover regional crafts and culture. This first meeting will be an opportunity for Peupl’en Harmonie to present to them innovative economic initiatives in French Guiana. Professionals of the social and solidarity economy will intervene to tell their stories. The young Belgian participants will also have time to reflect on their professional and personal future. The creation of collective projects is also planned.
From May 17 to 26, 2022, it will be the turn of Guyanese to travel to Belgiuma Brussels more precisely. They will discover the culture of the country and participate in the creation of collective projects. They will discuss with the group of Belgian participants who came to Guyana first and will also meet Brussels actors from the social and solidarity economy. Debates will be set up. The 16 participants, and their four companions, will discuss different themes, such as the development of each territory.
Living together, teamwork, collective projects, are really essential themes that we want to address during this exchange… while promoting the socio-professional integration of young people on their return. It is also so that they think about their personal or professional future projects: ‘What do we do for our territory, for our neighborhood, for our village or for our municipality, which we like and which Is usefull. But also: ‘what can we do for ourselves, for our own future.’
Alexia PHILIPPART DE FOY, interim coordinator of the youth center of the association Peupl’en Harmonie
Between the two trips, program participants will keep in touch. The objective is that young people, in particular those who are far from the system or who have dropped out of school, experience interculturality. The idea is also that they develop their savoir-vivre with others.
This approach could allow them to act for themselves and for their territory. This is why the slogan of the program is: “think global and act local”. Another device of this type had already been organized by the previous association, it was with Ukraine.
On the decision to no longer only send volunteers to [les partenaires, vers les autres pays]. We wanted, this time, to organize a real exchange of young people, since our ways of working (in Belgium and Guyana, editor’s note) and the public we are addressing are very similar, in different contexts.
Alexia PHILIPPART DE FOY, interim coordinator of the youth center of the association Peupl’en Harmonie
To be selected to join this scheme, candidates must: be between 18 and 25 years old, have an up-to-date passport / residence permit / identity card and have a complete vaccination schedule. These young people also have a form to fill out (to download here). They must then present themselves to the organizers during a motivation interview. This meeting will take place by telephone on 0694 08 42 48. Registrations will close on February 15, 2022.